How To

For teachers who would to really like to get their heads around blogging and its potential for their students Edublogs is running its first Teacher Blogging Challenge of 2015! The closing date for having the activities emailed to you have closed however you are still able to participate at your own pace go to:http://teacherchallenge.edublogs.org/blogging-with-students/
Whether you are new to blogging, or want a refresher on all of the features that blogging can offer, come join us for our four week crash-course as we guide you through the process of blogging with students.

THE Martin Place siege has received near blanket coverage in the media, prompting many parents and teachers to ask what is

appropriate for children to see, and what children should be told about the situation. Sandy Rae, Psychologist presented some ideas on Channel 9’s Today program yesterday. The ideas she presented were similar to Justin Coulson a parenting researcher and author’s article in the Sydney Daily Telegraph.

I was asked today how to create student email accounts for Global2 from a teacher in a Victorian site. I supplied the following advice and ask if you could share it widely as it also applied to filtering in Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD) schools.

Whoever manages that service at your school, possibly the school technician, the ICT coordinator or the Principal has the ability to logon online to create email accounts for any or all of students in your school.

They can even use a file from CASES to generate them quickly. Once you find who has the access password etc… you will be guided through. You can contact education@netspace.net.au and they will assist you but it really is pretty easy.

One of the Urban Myths of DEECD school internet is that DEECD manages school internet including the internet filtering.

It is provided and paid for by DEECD but each school is able to manage who sees what at their school. Many schools have set up different access for teachers and students.

The DEECD Reference for schools from the website provides a process which includes your staff evaluating the site for its educational value when allowing access to your students and establishing agreed behaviours particularly with any social media sites included.

The Department’s Virtual Conference Centre is providing a number of iPads for Learning online professional learning short courses for teachers and leaders who are using iPads in their teaching and learning.

There will be four short courses, each focusing on a different aspect of using iPads:

iPads for new users

Publishing with iPads

iPads for creating, finding and sharing content

iPad: Workflows

These short courses will contain three sessions, with each one hour session building upon the previous session’s learning. All of the courses will be supported with materials accessible via the Department’s iTunes U campus.

Participants will have to have an Apple Computer with iBooks Author (iBA) installed if they intend to work through the session.

An iTunes U course will also be created to compliment the course which will be best accessed via an iPad.

These sessions will take place on the 16th, 23rd and 30th of October and will commence at 4pm Melbourne time. Make sure you get these in your calendar. To see evolving CEM events go to Connected Educator Month. All CEM sessions are free.

By joining the community you can register, organise and attend amazing global sessions and events.

One such event is hosted by the Educational Team at National Geographic

Join them to learn how you can connect your students with students around the world through #global collaborative projects.

In this interactive hangout, staff from iEARN and PenPal Schools will share tips for getting started. You’ll also hear accounts from #teachers about how they’ve used global collaborative projects with their students.

Matt Renwick presents some compelling ideas about Why digital portfolios are important for students …. He begins

With the spreading use of computers and mobile technology in schools, going digital with student portfolios has become more popular. Simply put, digital portfolios are online collections of student work. They allow us to archive, curate and analyse samples of student learning from both the past and the present and keep that data — literally — at the tip of our finger.

Students and teachers can use digital tools to document current understandings, make revisions as thinking changes, share student products both locally and globally and celebrate successes with peers and parents. Although this practice is only one part of a balanced assessment system, there are many benefits that learners, both student and teacher, can gain for developing digital portfolios. Read the full article The power of digital student portfolios

Some reasons:
Become adigital citizen

Use technology with purpose

Find a global audience

Redefine student data

Improve instructional decision-making

Become students of our own practice

Develop personal learning networks

Global2 users are reminded that all blogs can be exported to Edublogs and WordPress when a student relocates or leaves your school. This can make the portfolio have real life impact. Teachers are reminded to let parents know about their intention to do so and where the blog is being relocated with the URL.

Victorian government school teachers can explore the current eduSTAR education software currently available for them and their students.

Log in with your eduMail details to search for software by learning area, and download core software and install it on multiple devices.

There are apps, over 80 software applications available and 24 support tutorials. eduSTAR online catalogue for others who want access to some of the free applications check out the tutorials for win and mac

Historypin is a web 2.0 tool that allows students to explore it contribute to it and curating stuff on it. The site allows students to take images, build a story, set it within real locations (Google Map allows placement anywhere in the world) and authentic sharing to a global world. Historypin provides support resources for schools http://www.historypin.com/community/schools

This technology used well supports the AusVELs curriculum with the History curriculum but also uses ICT as an authentic, interdisciplinary way which makes the learning better. Photos can be selected, narrated and shared from archives, attics, and family photo albums by the students from a class account. There is even an opportunity to create a project. Where did all our families come from? How has our local community changed? What is the story of our local monuments.

A community facing project could include a school working with a local library, historical society or museum.

Checking out the AusVELs Humanities – History curriculum there are many ways that a class of students could bring alive some of the local, family and even school history and present it in new, interesting and interactive ways.

Looking at the curriculum this tool could be used at all levels. With a teacher setting up a profile with younger students and older students able to work more independently.

The curriculum :
Foundation to Level 2 – Curriculum focus: Awareness of family history and community heritage
Levels 3–6 -Curriculum focus: Local/national history and use of a range of sources
Levels 7–10 Curriculum focus: World and Australian history, the analysis and use of sources and historical interpretation

Why use Historypin in schools?

Improve communication, social and inter-personal skills

Get families and carers more involved in the life of students and the school

Build positive links between your school and the local community

Engage students in curriculum subjects such as History, ICT, Geography, Citizenship and English with an exciting digital tool